Box Score
Newport News, VA - Down to a win-or-go-home scenario in the 2012 NCAA Regionals against McDaniel College, Falcons' sophomore pitcher Sara Dietrich delivered perhaps the best performance of her young career.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, it turned out to be the second-best pitching performance of the game.
The Falcons dropped a thrilling 1-0 decision to the Green Terror on Friday, succumbing to a two-out, walk-off home run to McDaniel's Tracy Davis in the tenth inning. Davis finished 3-5 on the day after entering the game as her team's leading hitter.
Davis' solo shot—just clearing the outstretched arm of
Stephanie Schell beyond the left field wall—ended a gritty performance for Dietrich as she was matching McDaniel's Caroline Brehm out for out. Dietrich finished with 9.2 innings pitched, allowing nine hits and four walks against five strikeouts.
Brehm, a freshman who was named the Centennial Conference's Pitcher of the Year this season, entered the game as the nation's leader in strikeouts. She struck out 11 Falcons on Friday, bringing her season total to 336. She walked four batters and induced 11 groundballs from Messiah's bats, completing all 10 innings for the win.
The loss on Friday resulted in a 0-2 performance for the Falcons in the 2012 Regionals after winning the Regionals Tournament in 2011. Both losses this season were due, in large part, to their silent bats. After leading the Commonwealth Conference in batting average (.357), Messiah managed only nine hits in 60 at-bats (.150) this week.
Even still, the Falcons had a few chances on Friday to push a run across Brehm and the Green Terror. Their best opportunity came in the third inning, with
Abi Buchler (walk) and Dietrich (error) reached base to open the inning. To further help the Falcons' cause, Buchler was able to move to third on Dietrich's grounder, with Dietrich soon stealing second base to put runners on second and third with no one out.
With
Sarah Seneca—Messiah's leadoff hitter and leading hitter—at the plate, the Falcons' seemed poised to grab an early lead. But Seneca would pop up a bunt attempt to the third baseman, with
Nicole Blantz and
Ashley Lehman going down swinging against Brehm to end their threat.
The Falcons again put two runners on base in the fourth inning, this time with two outs, before
Lauren Seneca also struck out swinging. Through that frame, Brehm had collected eight of the first Messiah 12 outs by way of the strikeout.
After the fourth inning, Messiah managed to put multiple runners on base in only the sixth and seventh innings, with their last nine batters of the game going down in order.
Meanwhile, the Green Terror were living up to their moniker against Dietrich. They put multiple runners on base in the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth innings, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of eighth.
In that eighth inning frame, a one out walk was followed by an error by
Lauren Seneca at short, with her throw to second base for the force out pulling Buchler off the bag. Junior Jackie Liebowitz followed with a liner into right field, with
Nicole Blantz cleanly snagging the ball on a short hop to hold senior Erinne Warrenfeltz from rounding third base with the game-winning run.
Now with no room for error, Dietrich was able to induce Tracy Davis into a slow comebacker to the mound. Dietrich snared the grounder and threw home to
Myranda Cox for the force out, with Cox throwing down to first in an attempt for a 1-2-3 double play. However, Cox's throw sailed high of
Krista Ammon and into right field—drawing a gasp from the Falcons' faithful as McDaniel's runner from third seemed able to run home for the win. But Blantz was positioned perfectly to back up the throw down the right field line, with her throw quickly coming home hold the bases loaded.
The next batter for McDaniel flew out to right field, ending the threat and setting up Blantz up as a potential hero for saving the 0-0 tie.
In Messiah lore, however, Blantz will only be footnote, as Davis' solo home run in the bottom of the tenth inning ended what had become an instant classic in this year's NCAA Championships.
With their win, McDaniel's (27-13) season will continue, with their next game coming on Saturday.
Messiah's season comes to an end, with a final record of 35-10. They were the defending Regional Champions from 2011, and finished 14-0 in the Commonwealth Conference during the regular season in 2012. The Falcons' string of three-straight Commonwealth Championships was snapped by Alvernia University last weekend, with the Falcons receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA Regionals.
